Halfords warns cost pressures could lead to road safety risks
Halfords share price boomed more than 10 per cent on Wednesday morning, following a trading update.
Halfords saw like for like sales dip 1.9 per cent compared to the year before, for the 20-week period to 19 August 2022. Sales last year benefitted from the end of the Covid lockdown in the UK.
The motoring retailer shared that total revenue growth had swelled 9.2 per cent.
Halfords said it continue dto target full year underlying PBT of £65m to £75m, providing there were no material changes in the macro-economic environment or consumer spending patterns in the remainder of the year.
The retailer also warned that the cost of living crisis could cause consumers to continue driving dangerous cars.
“Based on what we’re seeing in our garages and taking into account continuing issues with the supply of new cars, we believe the average age of cars will pass the nine year mark very soon and could even creep above ten years before the cost-of-living crisis eases,” said Graham Stapleton, CEO of Halfords.
There was “no getting away from the fact” that older cars were more likely to develop problems and were worse for the environment, Stephens added.
Earlier this week, the retailer was fined £30,000 after an investigation found it had sent nearly 500,000 unwanted marketing emails.